The major news from China’s auto industry this week is Volkswagen’s $700 million investment in the country’s electric vehicle startup, Xpeng. This partnership has the potential to set a precedent for Western automakers seeking to leverage Chinese firms for their EV expertise, while their Chinese counterparts can benefit from their foreign allies’ global distribution. The…
One of the best ways startup founders can hone their pitch until it’s sharp enough to impress VCs — and bring home the bacon — is by watching other founders pitch to investors. And there’s no better place to do that than by watching the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. Be in the…
WhatsApp announced today that users can now record and share short personal videos directly in chats. The messaging app notes that voice messages changed the way people communicate by proving a quick and secure way to share their voice, which is why it’s now building on the functionality with instant video messages. “Video messages are…
Bloom Money, a U.K.-based fintech, has raised £1 million to digitize an informal financial management system employed by ethnic communities across the world. Often referred to as “rotating savings and credit association” (ROSCA), the microcredit system varies in the details around the world, but usually, it involves an informal gathering of people from a certain…
Business is regularly won and lost on the strength of a proposal. Now, a startup out of London called AutogenAI has built a tool based on generative AI that it claims can help businesses write stronger pitches to improve that strike rate, and it has won some money of its own: $22.3 million from Blossom…
Waymo is tapping the brakes on self-driving trucks and shifting most of its capital, resources and talent to one commercial bet: ride-hailing. The move, which was announced Wednesday in a company blog post, comes six years after Waymo first tested its autonomous vehicle system in Class 8 trucks. The company emphasized the decision was driven…
Yet another virtual tabletop (VTT) tool has joined the fray, giving Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder and tabletop role-playing gamers alike a new augmented reality experience. Mirrorscape, a mixed reality and gaming development company, announced the open beta launch of its app, letting users experience their favorite tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) in AR. The new VTT…
It would be fair to say there’s no global solution for instant 24/7 access to mental health support. Yes, there are a few ‘marketplaces’ where you can schedule a call with a therapist in advance. Online solutions now include Better Help, Talk Space, and TeenCounselling. Then there are platforms connected with public healthcare such as…
Leaders from the AI research world appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss and answer questions about the nascent technology. Their broadly unanimous opinions generally fell into two categories: we need to act soon, but with a light touch — risking AI abuse if we don’t move forward, or a hamstrung industry if we…
Amazon today introduced a new feature that will allow consumers to be better informed about potential product safety alerts and recalls. Now, instead of having to seek out product recall information through third-party websites and other news sources, Amazon shoppers will be able to access a new “Your Recalls and Product Safety Alerts” page that…
